Location: Roca Partida, Nov. 17/18
We are back to our dear rock Roca Partida after been taking nautilus Explorer the 70 Nautical miles from San Benedicto. Our Anchor landed on 245 ft of water and we started to get the skiffs in the water and at 7:45 we started to launch our first divers.
Finally back here again! We where decending down in to the current side and met a therma cline at around 90 ft of water defenitely colder then the 24- 26 C we had above us. This therma cline has this a bit green water and we just hoovered a few feet above it in the warmer blue water and meet up with one ..two ..three …No several silvertips mixed together with galapagos sharks swing in a big group together. there are about 30 to 50 sharks in the biggest groups that we see and a bit outside of them we see smaller groups of scalloped hammerheads, more shy and alone or in 3-6 to 7 individuals, and just in this spot. It is very impressive and this repeats its self during our two days. Why the silver tips and the Galapagos goes together we dont know an din groups like this is making lots of questions if it is time of mating , food or day rest swimming.
Swimming slowly against the current maintaning your position among the thousands of creolfish can give good results. Suddenly we hear a sound like thunder on a distance. It is the panicing creolfish in thousands trying to escape Yellowfin Tunas or huge and I say HUGE! Black Jacks. After been watching the Tunas swimming buy in the shark cages in Guadalupe and now see the tunas here this are monsters! Some up to 7ft and must way around a 200 pounds at least. They rush through the schools of bait fish like rockets.
Sometimes we manage to by making a sound imitating this thunder of bait fish, we manage to get school of black jack and big eyed jacks excited , often with that comes sharks. It does not works all the time but the last day some of us where lucky and started to get in hammerheads first three then a few more and then everywhere. Under, over , in front and behind us! You dont know where to look and try to photograph or film it never gives the images that what you really see. It was more then 50, was it more then 100 or 200? we cant say just all over us and as soon as they appeared they disappeared. It is far to short time every time when you see them and it is time to ascend to avoid deco and get up towards the rock and spend the rest of the time on watching lobsters and octupus and white tips sharks….You think! thats when this whale shark turnes up and pulse and breathing goes up and she comes nicely towards several of the divers and I(who was working this time on the dive deck) have to watch waving arms and listen to the story about the whale shark when the skiffs are returning home to Nautilus. The size of the shark was from 8 m to 15m, depending of who you asked. We kind of decided it was big and somewhere around 10-11m Big still.
So two really good sharking days! But not one single manta. We will see tomorrow when we reach Socorro.
Surface conditions, Sunny with a very few clouds. ca 30 C. 4-5 ft waves both days
UW conditions, Viz from 25m to 8m (in the strong therma cline) Temp 25- 26 surface and 22 C in the Therma cline. Both days just mild current.and a little surge.
Sten
Sharks sharks sharks!!
